Modern Sofas
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
2010s Italian Modern Sofas
Brass, Other
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Fabric, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Sofas
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Sofas
Leather
2010s Canadian Modern Sofas
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
2010s Italian Modern Sofas
Steel, Other
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Fabric, Wood
1930s American Vintage Modern Sofas
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Sofas
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Sofas
Leather, Fabric, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Sofas
Iron, Other
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
20th Century American Modern Sofas
Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Sofas
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Sofas
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Sofas
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Sofas
Leather
20th Century Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Sofas
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Sofas
Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Sofas
Bouclé, Plaster, Walnut
1980s American Vintage Modern Sofas
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Steel
2010s French Modern Sofas
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Sofas
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Sofas
Leather
1990s Italian Modern Sofas
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Sofas
Stainless Steel, Other
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Cut Steel, Stainless Steel, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Sofas
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Sofas
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Sofas
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
2010s Brazilian Modern Sofas
Velvet, Walnut
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Sofas
Fabric, Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Sofas
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Sofas
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Sofas
Leather, Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Leather
Early 2000s Swiss Modern Sofas
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
2010s Swiss Modern Sofas
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Fabric, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Upholstery
1970s Swiss Vintage Modern Sofas
Leather